Chicago (IL) – Microsoft’s focus on a proprietary browser engine worked well when the Internet Explorer (IE) dominated the direction of the online world. But long update cycles and a somewhat neglected core technology is now backfiring as the company sees itself trailing other browser engines such Apple's WebKit, Mozilla's Gecko, and Opera's Presto, all of which follow web standards more closely than IE. According to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, the company may consider moving IE to the open-source WebKit browser engine. Such a move may have a tremendous impact on web development trends and help IE get back on track.
Microsoft’s top executive made the off-beat comment in Sydney, where he spoke at the Power to Developers event. According to a Techworld article, when confronted by a student who questioned that Microsoft could maintain proprietary browser engine when there are open source engines that can respond to changes in web standards faster, the executive said: "That's cheeky, but a good question, but cheeky." Although he defended IE's proprietary add-ons, Ballmer said IE "may need to have a rendering service" in the future.
The executive then hinted at a possible switch to an open-source alternative browser engine called WebKit. "Open source is interesting," he said. "Apple has embraced WebKit and we may look at that, but we will continue to build extensions for IE8." Ballmer's acknowledgement of the fact that web standards do matter is good news for all people using the Internet in one way or the other.
Why web standards matter
Just consider the fact that web developers these days spend a lot of time and money to write extra code that makes web pages look right in IE. You could argue that you, an end-user, do not care as long as the page renders and, of course, you'd be right. But the fact remains that web standards make life easier for developers, browser vendors and end-users – ad allow innovations to flourish much more efficiently. Microsoft's refusal to make IE standards-compliant results in more expensive web development. The extra time spent on tweaking the code for IE comes at the expense of features and innovations users get. Microsoft is now the first to admit that the strategy did not work well and there are numbers to support this conclusion.
Acid3 and market share results
IE's proprietary engine competes with Mozilla's Gecko, Opera's Presto and Apple's WebKit that power other major browsers. Presto runs inside the desktop Opera browser and various flavors of Opera Mini found in mobile devices. Firefox and its mobile counterpart Fennec are powered by Gecko, while WebKit runs inside Google's Chrome and the Android web browser, desktop and mobile version of Apple's Safari, Adobe's AIR platform, Nokia's Series 60 browser and less used browsers such as Omniweb, Shiira and iCab.
It is no secret that the IE engine underperforms in the Acid3 test that determines how well a web browser follows web standards. To pass the test, a browser has to use default settings, the animation has to be smooth, the score has to end on 100/100, and the final page has to look exactly, pixel by pixel, like the reference rendering. The benchmark puts the current version of Opera 9.52 at the top slot (84 points), followed by Chrome (79), Safari 3.0.3 (75) and Firefox 3.0.3 (71), while IE7 lags behind with just 14 points. The latest beta versions of WebKit, Presto and Gecko put the Safari 4 Beta on top as the most compliant browser with 100/100 score, followed by Opera 9.6 Beta (99) and Firefox 3.1 Beta (87), leaving IE8 Beta 2 (21) trailing the pack. The mobile versions of Safari, Opera Mini Firefox Fennec scored 100/100, 99 and 88 respectively. Microsoft's Pocket Internet Explorer that ships with Windows Mobile lacks JavaScript support and cannot run the Acid3 test.
Microsoft's browser has a less than rosy future
An aging JavaScript interpreter and a proprietary browser engine forces many users to look for alternatives next to IE. Net Application's October web usage share survey of 40,000 monitored sites confirms the downward trend of IE. Since the beginning of this year, IE has surrendered 4.2 points. The browser hit a record low of a 71.27% market share in October, while Firefox ended up just .03 percentage points shy of the 20% milestone. The fact that Firefox is now used on one in five computers worldwide is a clear sign of shifting user preferences on the Internet.
In addition to poor Acid3 results, IE suffers from a slow JavaScript engine which is a crucial component of modern web applications. The arrival of Chrome has ignited a new browser speed race with your desktop as the grand prize and Microsoft obviously did not see this one coming. It remains to be seen if the shipping version of IE will be capable of competing with Safari 4, Firefox 3.1 and Chrome in terms of JavaScript engine speed. Considering the fact that Microsoft will move into cloud computing with Windows Azure, it is a no-brainer that the company needs to provide a much more capable browser than IE7 or IE 8 Beta 2.
Speaking of compliance to web standards, Ballmer's WebKit flip should be viewed as the first step in the right direction. The fact that the company is now just considering a switch to an open-source browser engine that was co-developed by Apple is significant. If Ballmer's thoughts can bend old Microsoft ideas, the company may be on a path to re-invent itself.
Conclusion
Microsoft has no choice. It completely missed the shifting demand to faster browsers and is now stuck with an old dinosaur that does not fit in our time anymore. Whether it will be WebKit or something else, we have no doubt that IE will switch to a faster engine sooner or later. Such an engine could also breathe new life into the mobile version of IE. Microsoft, web developers and end-users would all tremendously profit move from such a transplant.
Microsoft’s top executive made the off-beat comment in Sydney, where he spoke at the Power to Developers event. According to a Techworld article, when confronted by a student who questioned that Microsoft could maintain proprietary browser engine when there are open source engines that can respond to changes in web standards faster, the executive said: "That's cheeky, but a good question, but cheeky." Although he defended IE's proprietary add-ons, Ballmer said IE "may need to have a rendering service" in the future.
The executive then hinted at a possible switch to an open-source alternative browser engine called WebKit. "Open source is interesting," he said. "Apple has embraced WebKit and we may look at that, but we will continue to build extensions for IE8." Ballmer's acknowledgement of the fact that web standards do matter is good news for all people using the Internet in one way or the other.
Why web standards matter
Just consider the fact that web developers these days spend a lot of time and money to write extra code that makes web pages look right in IE. You could argue that you, an end-user, do not care as long as the page renders and, of course, you'd be right. But the fact remains that web standards make life easier for developers, browser vendors and end-users – ad allow innovations to flourish much more efficiently. Microsoft's refusal to make IE standards-compliant results in more expensive web development. The extra time spent on tweaking the code for IE comes at the expense of features and innovations users get. Microsoft is now the first to admit that the strategy did not work well and there are numbers to support this conclusion.
Acid3 and market share results
IE's proprietary engine competes with Mozilla's Gecko, Opera's Presto and Apple's WebKit that power other major browsers. Presto runs inside the desktop Opera browser and various flavors of Opera Mini found in mobile devices. Firefox and its mobile counterpart Fennec are powered by Gecko, while WebKit runs inside Google's Chrome and the Android web browser, desktop and mobile version of Apple's Safari, Adobe's AIR platform, Nokia's Series 60 browser and less used browsers such as Omniweb, Shiira and iCab.
It is no secret that the IE engine underperforms in the Acid3 test that determines how well a web browser follows web standards. To pass the test, a browser has to use default settings, the animation has to be smooth, the score has to end on 100/100, and the final page has to look exactly, pixel by pixel, like the reference rendering. The benchmark puts the current version of Opera 9.52 at the top slot (84 points), followed by Chrome (79), Safari 3.0.3 (75) and Firefox 3.0.3 (71), while IE7 lags behind with just 14 points. The latest beta versions of WebKit, Presto and Gecko put the Safari 4 Beta on top as the most compliant browser with 100/100 score, followed by Opera 9.6 Beta (99) and Firefox 3.1 Beta (87), leaving IE8 Beta 2 (21) trailing the pack. The mobile versions of Safari, Opera Mini Firefox Fennec scored 100/100, 99 and 88 respectively. Microsoft's Pocket Internet Explorer that ships with Windows Mobile lacks JavaScript support and cannot run the Acid3 test.
Microsoft's browser has a less than rosy future
An aging JavaScript interpreter and a proprietary browser engine forces many users to look for alternatives next to IE. Net Application's October web usage share survey of 40,000 monitored sites confirms the downward trend of IE. Since the beginning of this year, IE has surrendered 4.2 points. The browser hit a record low of a 71.27% market share in October, while Firefox ended up just .03 percentage points shy of the 20% milestone. The fact that Firefox is now used on one in five computers worldwide is a clear sign of shifting user preferences on the Internet.
In addition to poor Acid3 results, IE suffers from a slow JavaScript engine which is a crucial component of modern web applications. The arrival of Chrome has ignited a new browser speed race with your desktop as the grand prize and Microsoft obviously did not see this one coming. It remains to be seen if the shipping version of IE will be capable of competing with Safari 4, Firefox 3.1 and Chrome in terms of JavaScript engine speed. Considering the fact that Microsoft will move into cloud computing with Windows Azure, it is a no-brainer that the company needs to provide a much more capable browser than IE7 or IE 8 Beta 2.
Speaking of compliance to web standards, Ballmer's WebKit flip should be viewed as the first step in the right direction. The fact that the company is now just considering a switch to an open-source browser engine that was co-developed by Apple is significant. If Ballmer's thoughts can bend old Microsoft ideas, the company may be on a path to re-invent itself.
Conclusion
Microsoft has no choice. It completely missed the shifting demand to faster browsers and is now stuck with an old dinosaur that does not fit in our time anymore. Whether it will be WebKit or something else, we have no doubt that IE will switch to a faster engine sooner or later. Such an engine could also breathe new life into the mobile version of IE. Microsoft, web developers and end-users would all tremendously profit move from such a transplant.